The Writing Process

The Writing Process Living without a father meant money was tight, mom worked two jobs, and my brother and I took care of each other when she worked. For a brief period of time the quality of our lives slowly started to improve as our soon-to-be step-dad became an integral part of our family. He paid attention to the needs of my mom, my brother, and me. Share all your brainstorming content with them and ask them to mirror back to you what they’re seeing. It can be helpful if they use using reflective language and ask lots of questions. An example of a reflective observation is “I’m hearing that ‘building’ has been pretty important in your life… is that right? ” You’re hunting together for a thematic thread--something that might connect different parts of your life and self. And, as I write these things down, I notice a theme of youth/old age emerging. As with the Type A essay, complete the brainstorming exercises described at the start of this chapter. No matter which structure you choose, these exercises help. Take special care to complete the Feelings and Needs Exercise, as it can be a powerful essay-outlining tool. As my step-dad slipped away, my mom continued working, and Fernando’s care was left to Jose and me. I cooked, Jose cleaned, I dressed Fernando, Jose put him to bed. I am a diehard Duke basketball fan, and I can identify all of the Duke basketball fans at my high school on one hand. I became a pescatarian this year to avoid fried chicken, and I can honestly get a life’s worth of meat out of cod, salmon, tilapia, shrimp, you name it. The theme of your essay is the thread that connects your beads. Imagine that each different part of you is a bead and that a select few will show up in your essay. They’re not the kind of beads you’d find on a store-bought bracelet; they’re more like the hand-painted beads on a bracelet your little brother made for you. Note that I couldn’t come up with something for the last one, “knowledge,” which is fine. Although I’ve lived in the same house in Cary, North Carolina for 10 years, I have found and carved homes and communities that are filled with and enriched by tradition, artists, researchers, and intellectuals. Read her essay below, then I’ll share more about how you can find your own thematic thread. This grisly experience exposed an entirely different side of this profession I hope to pursue. The hourglass of life incessantly trickles on and we are powerless to stop it. Every morning when I wake up, I want to be excited by the gift of a new day. I know I am being idealistic and young, and that my philosophy on life is comparable to a calculus limit; I will never reach it. But I won't give up on it because, I can still get infinitely close and that is amazing. This is a great way to figure out the “bones” (i.e. structure) of your essay. A rectangular black and red sticker displaying the theme of the 2017 event. For years I’ve been interested in the street artists and musicians in downtown Austin who are so unapologetically themselves. As a result, I’ve become more open-minded and appreciative of unconventional lifestyles. Next, the author used the Narrative Structure to give shape to his essay. First, the author brainstormed the content of his essay using the Feelings and Needs Exercise. Without a father figure to teach me the things a father could, I became my own teacher. I learned how to fix a bike, how to swim, and even how to talk to girls. I became resourceful, fixing shoes with strips of duct tape, and I even found a job to help pay bills. I became as independent as I could to lessen the time and money mom had to spend raising me. But our prosperity was short-lived as my step dad’s chronic alcoholism became more and more recurrent. When I was eight, my younger brother Fernando’s birth complicated things even further.